The Google logo is displayed during the Made By Google event at Google headquarters on August 13, 2024 in Mountain View, California.
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Google employees have begun circulating an internal petition titled “job security” ahead of expected cost cuts this year, CNBC has learned.
The petition has been signed by more than 1,250 employees and was viewed by CNBC. It is the latest sign of employee upheaval at Google, which has struggled to maintain high morale among its workforce after a year filled with embarrassing product rollouts, worker protests sparked by controversial enterprise contracts, and continued rounds of layoffs that stretch back to 2023 and are expected to continue.
“We, the undersigned Google workers from offices across the US and Canada, are concerned about instability at Google that impacts our ability to do high quality, impactful work,” the petition says. “Ongoing rounds of layoffs make us feel insecure about our jobs. The company is clearly in a strong financial position, making the loss of so many valuable colleagues without explanation hurt even more.”
New CFO Anat Ashkenazi said in October that one of her top priorities would be to drive more cost cutting as Google expands its spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure in 2025.
“Any organization can always push a little further and I’ll be looking at additional opportunities,” she said, referring to cost cutting, which sparked an internal reaction. Shortly after Ashkenazi’s statements, employees pressed executives for clarity but weren’t given any more details on Ashkenazi’s plans.
The petition calls on Google CEO Sundar Pichai to offer buyouts before conducting layoffs, to guarantee severance to employees who get laid off and to not give low performance review ratings for the purpose of removing employees.
In the petition, Google employees call on the company’s leadership to not “force” low performance reviews to justify removing certain employees. Results from the company’s annual performance review process, known as Google Reviews and Development, or GRAD, are expected soon.
The company does not have forced rating distributions for GRAD, and every employee is rated on their performance and impact based on their role, level and the expectations they set with their manager, a spokesperson for Google told CNBC.
The petition asks for guaranteed severance equivalent to what laid off employees were offered in January 2023. That year, Google laid off more than 12,000 employees. At the time, Google executives boasted of its severance package, which included 16 weeks salary plus two weeks for every additional year employees worked at the company.
Since then, Google has continued with more rounds of layoffs throughout its various departments, and impacted employees have told CNBC that their severance packages have varied.
— CNBC’s Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.
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